Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $245.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $225.00 to $245.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on AAPL. Maxim Group began coverage on Apple in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a hold rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Apple from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, DZ Bank restated a hold rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $208.06.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $214.29 on Tuesday. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $220.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $185.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.36. The firm has a market cap of $3.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.33, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Flagstone Financial Management increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. High Pines Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Asset Planning Corporation increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.